Classical Music - November 2015

Andresen - Three Norwegian Dances
Bach, J.S. - Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, saviour of the heathen) (BWV 62)
Bach, J.S. - Wohl dem, der sich auf seinem Gott (Happy is the man who on his God)
Beethoven - Violin Sonata No.10 (2 versions)
Brahms - Clarinet Trio
Chopin

• Waltz in A flat, op.42
• Waltz in E flat for Emile Gaillard ('Sostenuto')
• Mazurka in A minor for Emile Gaillard
• Mazurka in A minor for 'Notre Temps' 
• 3 Nouvelles Etudes
• Fugue in A minor 

Haydn - Symphonies 86, 90 and 93
Holmboe

• Cantata Profana 'Frieze'
• Omnia flumnia
• The Heron of Oblivion
• Elder Tree
• What the Beech Tree Sang

Janacek - String Quartet No.1, 'Kreutzer Sonata'
Nørgård - Images of Arresø
Schubert - Piano Quintet
Senstius - Fantasia in D minor
Schumann - Introduction and Allegro appassionato in G for piano and orchestra
Sibelius - Night Ride and Sunrise
Szymanowski - Masques
Vine - String Quartet No.5
Vivaldi - Vos aurae per montes (You breeze through the mountains)

The Brahms Clarinet Trio is one of those works that really connects with me. Who knows why. It's inward, withdrawn music, and something about the way it hesitatingly unfolds makes me respond in ways that bolder music wouldn't.

That this is true is evidenced by the fact that, unlike so many of the works listed in my classical music spreadsheet, which I created precisely because some works just melted into an undifferentiated blur, I can immediately hear bits of the Clarinet Trio when I think of it. I certainly don't know all the notes by heart, but I know the mood, what it evokes. And when that spreadsheet told me I hadn't actually listened to the piece for over 5 years(!), I still had a clear notion of what I would hear when I finally pressed play again in November.

I don't want to just listen to my existing favourites. A key part of my listening decisions is to avoid that. And yet, at the end of the day the reason I keep exploring is to find music like this. Music that, when I need it, I know I will enjoy. Music that moves me.

Popular Music - November 2015

Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk
Tori Amos, Samuel Adamson and Cast - The Light Princess
James Blake - Overgrown
FKA twigs - EP1
Patty Griffin - Servant of Love
Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
Lior - Autumn Flow
Wendy Matthews - Cafe Naturale
Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon
Katie Noonan's Vanguard - Transmutant
Agnes Obel - Aventine
Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt
Foy Vance - Hope
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake
Rachael Yamagata - Loose Ends

In November I made a decision to try and focus on the new pop music purchases I'd been making recently. Some of which I'd already listened to, some of which were just sitting there waiting, and some of which only arrived during the month.

It was a partial success. I got to know a few of these albums much better, which was the intention. I listened to a few without really paying close attention (not least because I broke my usual rule that I must first listen on CD before using the iPhone, meaning that in some cases I didn't ever sat down with the booklet lyrics). There were some new ones that I didn't get to during the month.

"New" purchases also included Foy Vance's album, which I can tell you for certain I purchased in October 2009, because I know where I was and he signed it for me. I've finally listened to it! However, it's in the 'not really paid close attention yet' category.

Of the things that I paid more attention to, Autumn Flow is worth talking about because I had in mind to buy Lior's debut album many times over the last decade and just never made the leap until now. There was always something else that was on special or a higher priority. I'm now kicking myself a bit, because it really is a very fine album indeed that I should have started enjoying a long time ago.

It starts with what is essentially the only hit song Lior has ever had, 'This Old Love', which is beautiful, but the great strength of the album is that it is in no way a stand-out track. The whole record is at a consistent level of inspiration. If you think this is good... well, in my opinion the whole album is just as good.

And there is enough change of mood to keep things interesting. The tone does tend towards mellow, but unlike some albums that get a bit boring as a result, there are plenty of songs that pick up the pace without ever feeling that they don't belong.

Of course, there is also new Tori Amos on this list, but she is the composer rather than performer (apart from a couple of bonus renditions at the end). And The Light Princess is truly fascinating. I'd go so far as to say Act I is a masterpiece. The economy with which Amos and librettist Samuel Adamson communicate the story is at times breathtaking and brilliant, especially when two parallel scenes are playing out in two kingdoms at once. While I'm no expert on musical theatre, the performances generally seem excellent.

Act II is just a little weaker, with one section in particular that (so far) does not work so well for me. In part this is probably because the one performer/character that I find a bit strident and grating takes centre stage and is basically called on to be as strident as possible, then to wallow in sentiment.

But overall, it's an impressive piece of work, that took many people many years - not just Amos and Adamson, but a whole cast and crew, and a director and other people at the UK's National Theatre who shaped and guided the creation of the work long before it reached the stage.

And now I get to keep the aural parts of the results, at least, in my library. Well done everyone.

Classical Music - October 2015

Bach, J.S - Mache dich, mein Gest, bereit (Make yourself ready, my spirit)
Bach, J.S. - French Suite No.1
Beethoven - String Quartet No.11 'Quartetto Serioso'
Brahms - String Quartet No.2
Chopin

• Piano Sonata No.2
• Ballade No.2
• Scherzo No.3
• Impromptu No.2
• 24 Preludes, op.28
• 2 Nocturnes, op.37
• 2 Polonaises, op.40
• 4 Mazurkas, op.41
• Mazurka for Emile Gaillard
• Mazurka 'Notre temps' 

Haumann - The Day the Cherry Trees Blossomed
Haydn - Symphonies 86 and 104
Holmboe

• Suono da Bardo
• Hevjið í homrum (Raise in the Passes)
• Lauda, anima mea 

Jørgensen - Quintet for brass
Norby - Herbst-Lieder (Autumn songs)
Schubert - Piano Sonata in A, D.664
Sibelius - Symphony No.3
Szymanowski - Metopes 

Hmm. Well, I was supposed to be catching up in January, and instead I fell even further behind.

The part of this list I think is worth talking about is the Chopin. This selection of pieces all come from a period around 1838-40, although parts of them were started a bit earlier than that and took until then to come to fruition.

And that means we're in the period of Chopin's relationship with George Sand, and their trip to Mallorca which seems to have been a mix of storms, sickness and working on some rather fantastic music. I don't know whether it was good for Chopin, but the results are certainly good for the music-listening public.

By now Chopin was a fully mature and powerful composer. But then one remembers that he was still only in his late 20s, turning 30 in 1840.

For me, the 24 Preludes are an absolute masterpiece, conveying a huge range of moods in fragments that are often tiny in themselves yet coalesce into a single whole. Some of them are definitely capable of being played on their own, but it's the way that they contrast with each other when played in sequence that really impresses me. There's two levels of structure going on at once, the small-scale and then the 40-minute expanse.

All of the pieces from this period, though, are worthwhile. And they show that while Chopin knew how to be pretty and decorative, as he had right from his teenage years, his mature music has a great deal of depth and sophistication.